Specialty Press

Bagration to Berlin- The Final Air Battles in the East: 1944-1945

by  Christer Berstrom

Reviewed By  Floyd S. Werner, Jr., IPMS# 26266

MSRP: $52.95 ISBN: 978-1-903223-91-8 Review copy courtesy of Specialty Press: www.specialtypress.com The air war on the German Eastern Front is one that for most Americans don't know nearly enough about. Why? - Well it wasn't fought by Americans, duh, and it was largely unreported. The Soviet Union and Germany fought ground and air battles that helped decide the course of the war. The air battles alone were on a scale unheard of in the East. That is why the German air aces were able to amass so many victories. The latest hard bound book from Christer Berstrom is actually the fourth and final installment of this series. The previous books, Barbarossa, Stalingrad and Kursk, took the reader from the beginning of hostilities to the largest air battle in the history of the world. This one picks up where the others left off and starts on the banks of the River Dnepr and ends with the final air battles over Berlin. There are 144 pages printed on high quality paper with excellent photos throughout the book. The pictures only tell part of the story, this is a serious work and the text shows the attention to detail the author has become known for. The text is easily readable even though it uses a lot of tactical terms. The photos are all very clear and add to the text. The captions are very helpful and introduce you to the personalities of the war on the Eastern Front. Personalities like Hartmann, Rall, Vorizheykin, Nowotny, and an assortment of others. Along with the personalities they would be nothing without the instruments of flight. The development and employment of the aircraft from P-39s, La-5s, Yaks, Bf-109s to the FW-190 is also discussed. The photos also show the development in the historical context that they belong. Some of the anecdotes about the pilots is very interesting, such as how it took Gerhard Barkhorn took 120 combat missions to score his first victory. The Luftwaffe and Soviet bomber forces played a pivotal role in the east, far more than in the west. With great aircraft such as the Il-2 at its disposal, the VVS was more than adequate to support the soldiers in the field. While reading the book it becomes readily apparent the level of activity that the air forces endured and the dramatic losses that they suffered. Even with the introduction of the latest and greatest fighters from the Germans was not enough to stem the tide of the Soviet Army. Wonder weapons such as the Me-262, Ta-152 and the Mistels were only able to prolong the inevitable. The German experten were able to do a lot of damage to the Soviet order of battle, however, the same can be said by the Soviet pilots who flew with determination and heroically. What I found to be interesting is that the Soviets continued to fly aircraft such as the P-39 right up until the last day of the war. Actually according to the book a P-39 achieved the last VVS air to air victory in WWII. This book, along with the other books in this series, are very well researched and written. There are no profile drawings, however, the photos that are included are very good and illustrate both Soviet and German aircraft. The text is easy to read and as a historical addition to your library this book is very good. For Americans, these books address a relatively unknown part of the European war. Highly recommended. You can obtain your copy directly from Specialty Press by calling 1-800-895-4585 or by visiting www.specialtypress.com. A $4.95 shipping and handling fee is added to each order. Don't forget to tell them that you heard about it from IPMS/USA.

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